Happy Punch Card "Secret Garden"

Students relax by reading in the "Garden of Five Senses".

Create a "garden of five senses", let the brothers and sisters serve as "assistant class teachers", and carry out annual psychological assessments,...... The reporter visited and found that guangzhou universities actively pay attention to physical and mental health in innovative forms. The interviewed teachers called on family education to take on greater responsibilities, and parents and school education should work together to escort the healthy growth of students.

Recently, the Notice on Strengthening the Management of Students' Mental Health (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Education and the upcoming Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Family Education jointly focus on students' mental health, proposing to effectively strengthen professional support and scientific management to improve students' mental health literacy.

Article/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Zeng Jun

Photo/School provided

The "Garden of Five Senses" has become a popular punch card

There is a special place in Guangdong Light Industry Vocational and Technical College, where teachers and students pass through the teaching building and dormitory area and enter a "secret garden" - the mental health education and counseling center for college students. It's not big, but it's a different place: flowing water, winding paths, lemon trees, perilla trees, fragrant wood, cacti... Dozens of plants occupy every corner, which can be described as a step by step scene. In the "Garden of Five Senses", people's hearing, vision, touch, smell, taste, etc. have been fully mobilized, and their mood has been relaxed.

"Everyone is always welcome to sit down and feel the beauty of these moments." Wang Yujie, director of the center, revealed that the "Garden of Five Senses", which was completed in 2019, is now a popular punch card place for the school, attracting many students to take photos and empty. A considerable number of students also drink tea with the teachers at the center and express their confusion. Students can also receive a pot of plants for free to go back and nurture their hearts in the process of cultivating green plants. The center has also set up a talking booth and sports facilities to become a "good helper" for students to heal themselves. It is reported that due to the healing effect exceeding expectations, the "Garden of Five Senses" program was promoted throughout the school, and a number of brother colleges and universities came to visit and exchange.

The popularity of the "Garden of Five Senses" is also a manifestation of college students' attention to their own mental health. The "Notice" requires colleges and universities to be equipped with full-time teachers of mental health education according to the ratio of teachers to students not less than 1:4000, Wang Yujie introduced, the center is equipped with 9 full-time teachers and more than 20 part-time teachers, there are enough venues and financial support, teachers love to consult, full of energy. Strengthen science popularization through college students' mental health education courses, public elective courses, group psychological counseling, and other means.

Effective assessment is the first step

The "Notice" proposes that professional tools and means should be actively used to accelerate the development of psychological assessment forms that are more in line with the characteristics of Chinese students, and regularly carry out student mental health assessments. Zeng Xiangyi, director of the Student Work Department of Guangdong Vocational College of Foreign Language Arts, introduced that on the basis of professional psychological assessment, the school adopts a combination of student autobiography, group activity observation, psychological committee evaluation, counselor interview and other methods, and uses the "mental health education big data of stress-quality model" to carry out psychological assessment.

Teacher Zhu, who is in charge of mental health education at the school, noticed that the psychological screening data for students showed that some only children have certain confusion, such as not adapting to the collective life of the campus, not being able to handle the relationship between classmates and other behaviors, "there is a pair of parents who drive a few hours to Guangzhou every weekend to accompany their daughters", parents and teachers need to pay attention to their children's mental health in advance.

Teacher Zhu also reminded that students' confusion is often related to the original family. "When the parents are not in harmony, the child may think that it is his own fault, and when he wants to maintain the relationship between the parents and is powerless, he will have some self-blame and want to talk about it." We want to help students properly handle their relationships with their parents, be themselves, and focus on living their own lives. She suggested that students should enhance their awareness of self-care, take the initiative to use the school's rich resources, and also call for more care and affection among students.

In colleges and universities, in addition to interpersonal relationships, sleep problems, etc., some students will be confused because they have not been admitted to the ideal school or major. According to reports, after receiving consultation, a student who was admitted to the art design major not only dismissed the idea of changing majors, but also caught up, taught himself programming in addition to learning spare energy, and also found a job related to programming after graduation. In this regard, Wang Yujie stressed that college students should determine their professional interests as soon as possible, and the unity of study, work and hobbies is conducive to the coordination of their own cognition.

Peers are also caring people

Under the concept of "peer education", adolescents are more susceptible to the influence of their peers. Guangdong Vocational College of Foreign Language Arts has such a group of outstanding and good communicative brothers and sisters as "assistant class teachers", who are intimate people for students, and the school also carries out psychological or economic support for students in need.

Sun Hui (pseudonym), a student of the class of 2018, was obese due to long-term medication before entering the school. After learning of the situation, the school paid close attention to it, issuing student loans and providing part-time jobs on campus. Every time he got a part-time salary, he sent a part to his family to supplement his grandmother's life. For his own psychological problems, he did not avoid it, but formed a close relationship with the "assistant class teacher" and would also go to the school psychological counseling room to chat. With the help of his own efforts and school, Sun Hui became self-reliant and won the National First Class Scholarship. He also became a peer educator at the school's "Youth Health Peer Society", and in his lectures inside and outside the school, he repeatedly encouraged and infected more young people with his own experience.

"Actively asking for help to support him all the way is also worth learning from more people." The teacher who has helped Sun Hui said that Sun Hui is not afraid to show his unhappy and bad side that others think is bad, so that everyone can understand, "because talking is also a kind of relaxation", he can also get support after getting the attention of others. At present, many schools have set up multi-level three-dimensional work structures such as dormitories, classes, colleges, and schools, integrating and mobilizing all aspects of strength to escort the healthy growth of students.

Creating a healthy parent-child relationship is key

The reporter noted that strengthening home-school cooperation is another highlight of the "Notice". The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of Family Education, which will come into effect on January 1, 2022, points out that parents or other guardians of minors who carry out family education should pay attention to the physical, psychological and intellectual development of minors. Teacher Zhu also believes that family education should play a more important role in solving the mental health problems of adolescents, including parents reducing their expectations for their children's further education and strengthening intergenerational communication. "Parents don't understand their children, they always say ' we all come this way, how can you not'; they don't care about their children, the communication is very rough, they give money directly, and they don't ask much; they are too harsh or pampered."

"Creating a healthy parent-child relationship is key." Wang Yujie said that children in the age group of 0-3 years old, 3-6 years old, 6-12 years old, 12-18 years old, parents' focus on children and education priorities should be different, in turn for intimate relationships, behavioral habits, learning and emotions, personality independence, etc. "Can't always ask, have you eaten?" How to learn? Instead, we should explore different topics such as material and spiritual levels, and children get a lot of love from the family, and the probability of problems in the future is small."

With the increasing awareness of student consultation, the school urgently needs to strengthen the professional team of consulting to improve the quality of teachers, and teachers also need to carry out self-health adjustment in a timely manner, "We are 'trash cans', but we must also often 'take out garbage', such as participating in training, supervision, and constantly enhance professional capabilities, in order to be stronger." Teacher Zhu said.